


First Rain

by Sarek and Amanda Archive Maintainer (Selek)



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Elizabeth Leicester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-21
Updated: 2013-03-21
Packaged: 2017-12-06 01:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/730049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selek/pseuds/Sarek%20and%20Amanda%20Archive%20Maintainer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amanda and Spock prepare for the Vulcan holiday of First Rain while they wait for Sarek to return home from his diplomatic assignment.</p><p>Written by Elizabeth Leicester.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: 'First Rain' is a sequel of sorts to 'Beginnings.' I have tried to include enough information so that you don't have to have read that story first to understand this one. 
> 
> Caz had sort of suggested that someone should write a story for Thanksgiving. I had two ideas, this is one of them.

First Rain

Author: Elizabeth Leicester 

Code: Sarek, Amanda, Spock

Series: TOS

Rating: PG

 

Disclaimer: Star Trek et al is owned by Paramount. No infringement or disparagement is intended by the author.

 

Summary: Amanda and Spock prepare for the Vulcan holiday of First Rain while they wait for Sarek to return home from his diplomatic assignment.

 

Notes: 'First Rain' is a sequel of sorts to 'Beginnings.' I have tried to include enough information so that you don't have to have read that story first to understand this one. 

 

Caz had sort of suggested that someone should write a story for Thanksgiving. I had two ideas, this is one of them.

 

The suns were low in the sky as Amanda put on the sand cloak, her 'burka' she called it. It enveloped her small frame and kept the stinging sand from blistering her skin. Here in the mountains, however, where the sand was not as prevalent, it kept out the cold and the wind. She took the smaller cloak from its hook on the slate wall and went to her little son who was dutifully pulling the large gathering basket, both hands grasping the handle, dragging it along the stone floor because he could not pick it up. It was almost bigger than he was.

 

Amanda smiled quietly and took it from him, putting it aside long enough to wrap him up in preparation for the late afternoon task. Swathed in the warm alpaca cloak, he never failed to remind her of an elf. Satisfied with the results, she stood and picked up the basket. 'Come pi'shayu,' she called. She did not look back. She knew he would be following her out the door, his little legs moving quickly in order to keep up with her.

 

Mother and son walked down the path from their adobe, past the last of the servants' housing, through the open gate of the vast stone wall that ringed the mountain domicile of her husband's tveshu, his family of origin. 

 

It had been four years. Four years since Sarek's last pon farr and her own unexpected conception. Four years since her stubborn insistence on keeping that child had blown their lives apart. They were still doing penance for going against the established order, for living against the precepts of Surak. But Surak had never actually said anything against this, never said anything about a male choosing his own mate or living with his tveshu instead of with his wife's family. Surak had only insisted a man be bonded in order to prevent the unchecked violence that invariably accompanied the Fires. The wife of a bonded man would feel his thoughts and sense the coming of the Time and he would be drawn to her. At least this was how it was written. Of course the tradition of a man living with his wife's family predated Surak. Everyone knew this. Their sin, hers and Sarek's, was of going against this tradition, of marrying outside the 'natural order' of things. Violating Surak was just an excuse, an official justification.

 

Amanda continued along the footpath, with Spock in her wake, past the cultivated gardens and out to the rugged, brushy country. Palla trees and pad cactus studded the hills and crags. Amanda set the basket down and began removing various items and tools: a small basket for Spock, diggers, a hand laser and, most essential, a pair of thick gloves. She gave the small basket to Spock with the directive to go and gather palla beans. While he did this, she donned the gloves and began to harvest cactus pears from a pad plant that had been particularly fruitful.

 

The summer was at an end. Soon, the entire House of T'Pau, women, men, children and servants would pack up and move down into the valley to the winter enclave on the Sas-a-shar plains. And Sarek would come home, at least for a month.

 

This was not the life she had envisioned for herself. No, she thought, as she placed the pears and some of the more succulent cactus pads in the basket, this was not what she had had in mind when she had agreed to be a part of Sarek's 'harem.' She had just wanted to study Vulcan culture and history. She had certainly gotten more than she had bargained for. 

 

Amanda looked up to see Spock coming towards her, his basket brimming with palla beans.

 

'Are we going to eat this Mehmi?' he asked.

 

'Indeed,' she replied. 'These are for First Rain,' she explained. 'We will fill this basket up and take it in to Vanek. He will be quite pleased and he will make traditional dishes for the celebration.'

 

The little boy thought for a moment. 'We talked about that in class,' he told his mother seriously. 'We are learning songs and dances for it.'

 

Amanda could not help but smile. Last year, he had been too young to participate. How he had grown! 'I can't wait to see what your class does,' she said.

 

'Will Assa be home?' he asked, referring to his father.

 

'I hope so,' Amanda admitted. 'Remember when we talked to him last?' The boy nodded in response. 'He said that he was applying for leave.' She sighed quietly, thinking about that last conversation. She missed him so much, but his absence was part of the price they had paid. She shook off the thoughts and took in the results of their labours. The basket was almost full. Putting the beans and the tools on top, she hefted it on to her hip.

 

'Let's take this in,' she said to Spock. 'It will be time for end meal soon.' 

 

As they walked together down the sloping path that led back to the domicile, Amanda took in all that was her son: the dark head, the long eyelashes, the elegant ears, the little form wrapped in russet, the tiny feet encased in desert boots. Oh, he would break hearts someday! She could still remember the day he was born. The healer laid him on her stomach and two dark obsidian eyes peered at her, knew her. And she knew then, as she still knew now, that everything she and Sarek had endured and would endure was worth it if it meant the existence of this exquisite, marvelous creature that was her son.

 

~~**~~

 

First Rain was an ancient holiday, one that had been celebrated for millennia. The name conveyed the meaning precisely. It was a celebration of the end of the blistering summer and the beginning of the rainy season. It commemorated the blessed, healing rains which promised the end of desolation and famine and the beginning of new life and prosperity. 

 

Modern Golic civilisation was not completely at the mercy of the environment as it had been in the past. Ancient Vulcans, moving from plain to mountain with the seasons, much as they still did today, knew the importance of those first rains, knew their lives depended on them. And underlying the celebrations, as it did with many commemorations throughout the galaxy, was fear. What if the rains did not come, the sun not return, the winds not blow? whatever was essential to the existence of the people and culture expressing their utter gratitude for the inevitable.

 

There would be feasting and singing and dancing. The children would perform plays, recite poems and stories; the men would gather around the hearths in the kitchens and the women in the large communal hall. Everyone would eat too much and drink too much and work it off a few weeks later during Atonement.

 

But out of all this, the most important thing about First Rain for Amanda was that Sarek would return. Because of her, he had lost his position in the diplomatic corps and had virtually had to start over as an aide to one of the senior diplomats on Tellar. For the past three years, they had barely seen one another. He came home twice a year, for First Rain and the Remembrance Days and while his stays lasted at least a month, it never seemed long enough to either of them. Someday perhaps, the gods, or at least the Clan Convergence, would forgive them and they would no longer be separated. It was Sarek's belief that would occur after his next Time. They would have to endure the ordeal on their own, with little help from anyone save an attendant or two. After that, surely the Convergence would relent and ask the High Council for reprieve. But that was at least three years away, three more years of separation, of living one step above servant in the tveshu, of enduring raised eyebrows and condescending looks.

 

It wasn't so bad, Amanda decided. They had both known what they were facing when they had married. But Spock had had no say in this. He was just a child and one that was beginning to notice that their status in the House of T'Pau was not as it should be. When they moved to the winter enclave, he would no longer have class with his aunts and uncles and cousins but with the unrelated children of servants and support staff. So far, she had been able to deflect his questioning, divert his curiosity, but once winter school began, she would have to tell him the truth. She had considered teaching him in the small apartments that would be allotted to them but that would only serve to further isolate him and affirm the point that everyone was always trying to make: Spock was not truly Vulcan. Amanda already knew, had known from the moment she was aware of his existence, that Spock would never be accepted on his homeworld. He would always have to prove himself. She hoped that someday, he would truly find a home. Until that time, she would provide it as best she could, but she would not shield him from his fate. Instead she would support him and try to give him strength for what lay ahead.

 

~~**~~ 

 

The day which was designated as First Rain dawned, gray and misty. It wasn't always so. Sometimes the suns blazed as if they would never relent, never give in to the gentle, life-giving rains. In ancient times, the holiday would not be celebrated until rain actually fell. But over the centuries, as civilisation progressed and people became more logical and less superstitious, First Rain became tied to the fall equinox and the start of the new year. The day would be especially significant since the rains had actually begun. 

 

Amanda lay in bed, listening to the rain that was too soft to hear, savouring this time of quiet before the day's events began. She turned, snuggling up next to her sleeping husband. 

 

He had returned home late last night. She had heard the shuttle flying over the tveshu, had heard it as it landed out at the shuttleport, had listened at the sounds of a flitter coming into the domicile, at soft footsteps walking down the path, at the sound of their door opening. 

 

And now, he was here. She reached out and put a hand in his hair, feeling its softness, caressing his head, resting in his essence. It was absolutely illogical to love him and even more so to have married him. But she found that she couldn't help herself. Somewhere in the middle of the trial that had been her pregnancy, in the middle of monitors and confinement among people who merely tolerated her, she had fallen in love with him. She had never understood why exactly. She certainly hadn't planned it. But in all the chaos, he always seemed to be there, even when he wasn't.

 

He would never admit that he returned her feelings and yet she knew he did. It was there in his care, in his touch, in his longing. Even more than these, it was in his willingness to give up everything for her. He hadn't had to marry her. His parents, the Family, the Matriarch herself, had all counseled strongly against it. He was threatened with censure and loss of career and still he cast his lot with a komihn, ready to pay the price.

 

They would never be able to comprehend his reasoning. But she knew. She had felt it, understood it the very first time their bond was forged. With her, he had found what he had been seeking for decades, what his empty soul had hungered for. He would not call it love, but that's exactly what it was.

 

She could feel him stirring now, awakening to consciousness. She smiled as he turned towards her, opening his eyes.

 

'Abundant rain,' she said quietly, reciting the traditional First Rain greeting.

 

'Abundant rain,' he returned. Gently he reached out and stroked the side of her face with two fingers.

 

Amanda closed her eyes, breathing him in as his presence flooded her mind. Of course she could always feel him, as though he were in the next room or down the hall. But now that he was physically here, the experience was intensified. And when he touched her, moved in with his mind the way he was doing now, it was close to being overwhelming. Yet she met him eagerly, hungrily, almost devouring him. The force of her desire always surprised and overpowered him. Stereotypically, Vulcans were the strong ones. Terrans were supposedly weak. But not his wife, not when she had been deprived of his mind and body for months.

 

There was desperation in this union, in her. He tried to calm her, tried to envelope her in his soul. She clung to him and he could feel grief, like the showers of the first rains, washing over him.

 

//It has been difficult for you my wife,// he thought. His words took shape over and under and through their mental embrace.

 

//No more than usual,// she admitted. //But time doesn't make our separations any easier.//

 

//Illogical,// came the pronouncement.

 

Laughter rained through them, scattering like drops on a windy day.

 

Somewhat taken aback, he reminded her,// We are bonded, Amanda. We are never separate.//

 

The wind shower quieted. //I know,// she acknowledged. //And it should be enough for me. But it isn't.//

 

Again, he could feel her sadness, a steady ever present rain.

 

//I don't think I can do this for three more years.// It was a truth that was hard to expose and he could feel her anguish at the admission.

 

//You will not have to,// he told her, holding out the thought like a wrapped gift.

 

The statement startled her emotional state but he could still feel her grief dripping from the eaves of her mind.

 

She looked at his secret, at this truth still hidden from her.

 

//What is this?// she asked.

 

And suddenly the gift he had been holding back was revealed. Their union deepened into joy as she realised the truth: their willingness to quietly bear the burdens they had been given had paid off. After the holiday break, he would be reassigned as ambassador to Setlik Prime. And he could take his family with him.

 

Light sang through them, bright and joyous. Sarek marveled at this ability she had to be sad one moment and rapturous the next. It was always a new world and he found that instead of repulsing him, it made her all that more attractive.

 

She was quiet now, slowly calming, breathing steadily, coming into her own self, but the taste and feel of him remained and would remain with her for the rest of the day. She opened her eyes and smiled into his dark ones.

 

'We'd better get moving before they change their minds,' she joked, kissing him on the forehead as she threw back the covers.

 

She laughed at his expression. Amazement and confusion, along with love, mingled on his face, giving him that look that humans often interpreted as one of condescension. But she knew better.

 

She rose from the bed and went in the other room to check on Spock. It would be a busy day, the day of First Rain.

 

The rains brought many things: the return of life, the gathering of Family. This time, they had also brought something for Amanda. They had brought her husband and the promise of hope.

 

 

Finis


End file.
